Senate confirms Kevin Warsh as Fed governor, clearing path to become chair
The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, a crucial step in President Trump's push to make Warsh the central bank's leader, replacing Jerome Powell.
The chamber voted 51-45 to confirm Warsh to a 14-year term as one of the Fed's seven governors. The Senate still needs to vote separately to confirm Warsh as chair of the Board of Governors, replacing Powell, whose four-year term as chair ends Friday. That vote is expected later this week.
Warsh is taking the board seat held by Stephen Miran, a Trump adviser who was confirmed to the Fed last September to fill a vacancy created by an early resignation. Miran's term technically ended in January, but he was allowed to remain on the board until his successor was confirmed. Miran previously chaired the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, and in an unusual move, took a leave of absence to serve on the Fed for a few months.
Warsh's term as Fed governor will run until 2040.
An alumnus of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Warsh is returning to the Fed after a five-year stint as a governor that ended in 2011, spanning the global financial crisis. Since leaving the Fed, he has worked as a Hoover Institution fellow and an adviser for billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller. Warsh's net worth exceeds $100 million , and he is married to Jane Lauder, the billionaire granddaughter of cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder.
Warsh has been a frequent critic of the Fed , questioning everything from the size of its balance sheet and its approach to regulating banks, to the ways it uses data and communicates to the public . Warsh has also signaled at times over the last year that he's open to lowering interest rates, though in his prior run as a Fed governor, he was known as more of a hawk, focused on inflation risks and wary of overly loose monetary policy.